DETROIT – It was a sequence that did not decide the outcome. It nearly did, though.

With Butler ahead by six points and Arkansas threatening to reclaim the lead midway through the second half, the Bulldogs’ Aaron Thompson stole the ball from Darious Hall as the Razorbacks were running a two-on-one fast break. Thompson delivered the ball to Kelan Martin, who swished his fifth 3-pointer.

So instead of having the margin trimmed to four, Butler built it to 56-47. It was Arkansas’ last gasp in a 79-62 loss in the first round of the NCAA East Regional on Friday.

He originally committed to Pittsburgh, then was released and lured to Butler by former coach Chris Holtmann. Pittsburgh was 0-18 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, fired coach Kevin Stallings and has reportedly granted release of eight players who want to transfer elsewhere.

Just as younger teammates told Martin to keep shooting, older ones told Thompson to keep doing what he does. He was trying “to stay calm and stay poised,” the freshman said.

“Just having the other guys tell me to calm down, that they have confidence me. That helped a lot as well,” Thompson said.

CLOSE

The Bulldgos are moving on in the NCAA Tournament.
David Woods/IndyStar

He said he felt prepared for Arkansas’ pressure from having faced similar defenses in the Big East, notably from Villanova. Butler came into the game off an 87-68 loss to Villanova in semifinals of the Big East tournament.

“So it was a lot of talk before the game about how aggressive they were going to be with the pressure, and I felt it, we felt it, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Butler guard Paul Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen said if the Bulldogs could not stay composed in their 34th game, “we have an issue.” Butler had 14 turnovers, but few issues.

Thompson said the Bulldogs were not rattled by losing the lead after going ahead 21-2.

“We gave ourselves a cushion, some room for error,” he said. “Nobody got out of control. No one got frustrated. It made us come together even more and grow our lead.”

Thompson was two off Butler’s NCAA tournament record for assists, set by Mike Monserez with nine against Louisville in 2003.

Dunk City?

If the game had been a dunk contest, Arkansas would have been favored. The Razorbacks had 122 dunks for the season. Arkansas freshman Daniel Gafford (74) had more than Butler’s entire team (47).

The dunks tally? Butler 5, Arkansas 2.

Tyler Wideman had three dunks, and Kamar Baldwin and Martin one each.

Etc.

Butler is one of eight schools that has won at least one game in each of the past four NCAA tournaments. ... Baldwin’s 24 points gave him 534, fifth-most by a Butler sophomore. Billy Shepherd scored 724 in 1970, Chad Tucker 573 in 1985, and Gordon Hayward 572 and Shelvin Mack 536, both in 2010. … Butler is 14-1 when allowing fewer than 70 points and 19-1 when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent. . . . Martin and Wideman have 91 wins in their career, tying the total of coach LaVall Jordan, who played at Butler from 1997-2001.

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.